Adv

Jamie Donaldson (pictured by Getty Images) continued his commanding charge towards a third European Tour title and an automatic qualification spot for The 2014 Ryder Cup as the Welshman maintained his one-shot lead at the halfway point of the inaugural D+D REAL Czech Masters.

The 38 year old, who currently sits in eighth position in The Ryder Cup Points List, entered the second round with a single stroke advantage after a six under par opening round 66 and, having negotiated his first nine holes in one under, he soon put the pedal to the metal.

Birdies at the first (his tenth), third, fourth and sixth moved him four shots clear of the pack momentarily but he would follow that with back to back bogeys at the seventh and eighth to settle for a three under par 69 and a nine under par total, one ahead of Grégory Bourdy.

The Frenchman, who already has four European Tour titles to his name, signed for a five under par 67 to move to eight under for the tournament.

The round of the day came from Englishman Tommy Fleetwood, who fired a stunning seven under par 65 to establish a new course record at the stunning Albatross Golf Resort and move into a share of third place on seven under, where he was joined by another Ryder Cup hopeful – Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher (67) – and three others.

Key player quotes:

Jamie Donaldson, 66-69 (-9)

“I played nicely again and made a lot of birdies out there today, but a few bogeys so if I can go out there tomorrow and play as well as I’ve played over the last couple of days I’ll be in a strong position going into the final round.

“I really got on a great run, played really well and hit a decent shot at into seven. I didn’t think it was going to go that far and it went long, then I misjudged the chip and then did the same on eight.

“I had a good bunker shot at the last to par. Overall it was a solid day but it could have been very good out there.

“I won’t dwell on the poor shots, I played two pitches at seven and eight and misjudged them both so one’s come out hot and one’s come out dead. That slowed the run down, up until that point I was really motoring.

“It’s a great golf course, it’s generous off the tee and you’re setting yourself up for birdies on a regular basis. Hopefully it will be more of the same and go and attack at the weekend.

“We had good fun out there (with Stephen Gallacher), good chat all the way around. We both played well, he got on a good run as well as me so it was good fun out there, plenty of banter.”

Grégory Bourdy, 69-67 (-8)

“I’m very happy to be in this position, it was a great round today, really solid. I really enjoy this course and enjoy this place so that’s why I’m feeling confident here.

“I just missed a few putts but the rest was very good, it was a good start so I’ll try to do the same at the weekend.

“A bit like yesterday, I started very well with a few birdies and after nine holes I was four under. Then I birdied one and two (his tenth and 11th) so it was difficult to do better than that. I had two bogeys in a row and then birdied six, which was important to get confidence for the end of the round.

“I like almost everything about this place. I like the design and when I arrived on Monday and played Tuesday I was surprised it was so good, especially the conditions. I think the greens are probably in the top three we have on The European Tour.

“They are quick and great conditions. The whole course is very good and the practise facilities are probably some of the best we have on tour. I feel good here and also to be in Prague, it’s a lovely city, and we’re staying in town so I’m enjoying every moment here.”

Tommy Fleetwood, 72-65 (-7)

“I had no idea it was a course record. I just came in and signed the card and thought ‘that’s a good score’ and Carmel the recorder said we needed a new card to sign for the record.

“It’s a nice little bonus. It might be broken over the weekend, it might even be me who breaks it but it’s always nice to shoot a course record, play well and get in the mix.

“You play it in practise and you hit quite a few wedges in and then here are the par fives, and it seems alright, but then you get the tournament and they tuck the pins away and it does make it a different course.

“I think everybody was surprised at how low the leading score was yesterday but it’s obviously very bunched and I showed today that you can score on it and Jamie’s playing great on it. It’s not played as easy as we thought it would. They put the pins away and I think it’s worked really well.”

Stephen Gallacher, 70-67, (-7)

“It was a good five under and a good back nine, back in five under to get myself back in contention. That’s all you can ask in the second round, that you’re in touching distance with two rounds to play.

“I played better today. I struggled off the tee yesterday and you can’t get close to the pins when you do that so today I hit a lot more fairways and when you’re on the fairways you can attack it much better.

“Jamie led yesterday and he played well and then he got off to the same start so I was just trying to hang in and stay as close to him as I could.”

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Graham J Gordon, The Editor and Owner, GolfblogspotUK

The GolfblogspotUK website is owned and run by former Walker Cup player and European Tour card holder, Graham J Gordon, from Scotland, the Home of Golf.
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